Between the pandemic and increased mobile phone use, the country's shopping habits have changed in recent years, with more of us choosing to buy online rather than in store.

However, a lot of online fashion brands only show their clothes one type of model, leaving people guessing what size to purchase.

Consumers and experts joined Lunchtime Live to talk about the problem affecting thousands of ordinary women.

Sizing

Writer Anna Carey knows that without "bricks and mortar stores", consumers rely on the brand's website to be accurate, and many aren't up to scratch.

"They will say what size the model is, right. But it's usually something like 'model is five foot ten and wearing a six'", she said.

"There are people who are that tall and that thin but it's a particularly unrepresentative body type."

Ms Carey is calling on online clothes shops to have models in a wider range of shapes and sizes so ordinary people know what they're getting.

Lunchtime Live presenter Andrea said friends of hers buy several sizes of the same garment and then return the ones that don't fit, but Ms Carey says this isn't an option.

"You can buy a couple of sizes, but you might end up having to pay 20 quid or something to send them all back."

"Women's sizing is a con"

Fashion designer Brendan Courtney has first-hand experience of creating and selling women's clothes.

Roughly 95% of his company's sales come from people on their phones and he asserts that women's sizing is "a con".

"I'm a man and I wear men's sizing and the sizing is in centimeters or inches and I can measure, and it's the same in every size and it's the same in every shop."

He said women's sizing fluctuates because brands define sizes differently, so a size 12 in one shop could be the equivalent of a size 14 in another.

"Soul-destroying"

Andrea said she recently went to buy the same pair of trousers in another colour and found they fit completely differently.

Fashion expert for RSVP Magazine Laura Mullet says this experience can be "soul-destroying" for consumers.

"Sometimes some brands hit trousers are a blazer on the head and then when they move to maybe they might slightly change the formula of the fabric, there might be a little bit less elastic and just a smidge less stretch."

"Then you're going to feel like it's cutting you in all the wrong places."

She advises people to know their body shape and accentuate their best features.

For suits, she advises a "fit and flare" style.

Listen back tot he full conversation here.

Main image shows woman online shopping. Picture by: Andriy Popov/Alamy